


Alchemy

by bloodisshrp (panicparade), orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, HP: EWE, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Potions, oblivious boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:45:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4312671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicparade/pseuds/bloodisshrp, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco has been appointed to tutor Harry for extra Potions classes as part of the post-war inter house effort. It’s going surprisingly well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alchemy

**Author's Note:**

> **Author’s note:** Working on this fic was a blast! Sure, it was hectic for both of us and we definitely struggled with the _multiple_ deadlines, but it was also loads of fun! I think the best part was the opportunity to discuss the different dynamics behind Harry/Draco - I’ve learnt a lot while working on this. A million thanks to the mods for being super helpful and granting us all those extensions! :) 
> 
> ♥
> 
>  **Artist’s Note:** I am so so happy that I got the opportunity to work with someone else on a Draco/Harry fanwork, it was a lot of fun! It was definitely not the most creative period for me but it was so stimulating to pair up with someone and our ideas really worked well together. Many thanks to the mods for being so helpful and patient!
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** All Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

  
“For the love of - _give me that_ ,” Draco snaps as he snatches the stirring rod from Harry’s hand. Muttering under his breath about stubborn Gryffindors who refuse to learn, Draco starts gently stirring the potion, keeping track of the number of clockwise and anti-clockwise turns.

“It must be done like _this_. The number of turns anti-clockwise should be equal to the number of lacewings added while the number of clockwise turns should be exactly half those as clockwise. We’ve only been over this about a hundred times.”

Draco impatiently waves his hand as he waits for Harry to take over the stirring once more. The feeling he gets at the mulish expression on Harry’s face when he gets reprimanded isn’t quite as satisfying as it was six weeks ago, when he’d first started tutoring Harry.

He goes back to the Quidditch Weekly he’d been browsing; the article on the affair between Falmouths’ Seeker and the Harpies’ Keeper was actually interesting enough to make him want to keep reading. Draco still keeps an eye on Harry: they’re _nowhere_ near the point where Harry can brew an entire Potion without supervision.

Draco enjoys these moments, and why shouldn’t he? He’s channeling his energy to teach someone else the subtle art of Potion-making, and keeping up with Quidditch news all the while. In these moments, he feels responsible and busy, yet somewhat carefree. He’s not worried about anything but Harry’s work. It feels nice.

“I think it’s done.”

Draco makes a show of carefully marking his page in the magazine, taking his time to put it away in his bag, fixing his robes before making his way to the other side of the table and peering into the cauldron.

He ladles out enough to fill a vial and gives it a shake, humming appreciatively at the shine in the viscous blue liquid. It really is the right consistency.

“Well done, Potter,” Draco drawls, stoppering the vial and labeling it, “you managed to brew an entire potion that required me to intervene _only_ twelve times. Bravo.”

“Piss off, Malfoy,” Harry mutters, his proud smile softening his words. He starts gathering his things and dumping them in his bag.

Draco chuckles. “Tut tut, Potter. I’m your only hope at getting a respectable enough NEWT score to be considered for the Auror Academy. You don’t want to make me angry.”

Harry rolls his eyes and shoots Draco an amused look. It still feels odd sometimes to consider that now they can throw these kind of petulant snipes at each other without a care in the world. When they started to work together as the result of the “interhouse cooperation effort” it was all uncomfortable silences and walking on eggshells.

Harry turns to leave, then he seems to remember something and faces Draco again.

“Can we meet an hour early tomorrow?” he asks, fidgeting with the strap on his satchel.

“I guess so. Why?”

Harry scuffs the toe of his trainer against the rough dungeon floor, avoiding Draco’s eyes as he answers. “Erm, I have this… date.”

“Oh.” Draco schools his features to a tight smile and nods in what he hopes is not a frantic manner. “Of course. I’ll see you at four then?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, smiling as he waves and makes his way to the door. It clangs shut behind him, and Draco sinks back on his seat, staring blankly at the wall. He’s not sure why he feels like a bludger just crashed into him, and he doesn’t like it at all.

 

 

***

Draco takes a deep breath before entering the Potions’ classroom. Harry’s perched on a desk, going through his Potions textbook with a frown on his face.

“Sorry I’m late.” Draco says, setting his bag down quietly near his seat. Harry dumps the book on the table and smiles, that very radiant smile that makes his green eyes twinkle and Draco’s knees feel a little wobbly.

Draco pulls out his own Potions’ book and flips it open.

"Page 372 today -- do start by reading the list of ingredients several times."

Draco busies himself with making a note of the steps where Harry might, will _definitely_ , go wrong. He's already noted 12 such steps when Harry speaks up.

"Um, Draco, don't you think this is a little too advanced?"

Draco taps the page with his quill and hums. "No, it's time we moved to more advanced potions. Today is a test of sorts to check if you're ready for this level or if we need to step back a little."

He looks up in time to see Harry positively beam, proud at moving to what he thinks are more difficult potions, even though Draco was making these in his Third Year. He waits for Harry to read through the entire recipe.

"Draco?"

Draco patiently puts down his quill and prompts, "Yes?"

"It says here that I need to let it simmer for ninety-five minutes and then add in the Wolfsbane."

Draco nods. "Yes, it's only when the Dried Billywig Stings have had sufficient time to release their essence that we can add the Wolfsbane. If left brewing for too long the Stings might become too potent and overpower all other elements, but if the Wolfsbane is added too soon it might never reach the desired consistency."

"Oh."

Harry is frowning at the book and shooting glances at his watch. Draco knows he's trying to calculate the amount of time it would take for him to finish the Potion and leave for his date.

There's no way he can do both.

Draco tries to ignore the overwhelming feeling of relief that threatens to overpower him when Harry says, "I'll get started then."

Why, he only chose this potion to challenge Harry. That's all there is to it.

 

 

***

Draco doesn’t expect his plan to backfire when Harry decides to postpone his next tutoring session with the reasoning that he needs it after the exhausting last class. True, it took him about five hours and three tries to get the Potion right, while Draco barely refrained from hitting him on the head each time he made a mistake, but Draco doesn’t think it’s reason enough to skip a class. For a date, no less.

But for a reason he can’t really fathom, Draco doesn’t voice that opinion to Harry when he comes forward. As he watches him turn on his heels and walk back towards Finnigan, Draco wonders when he started finding it difficult to say no to Harry.

Draco refrains a heavy sigh and tries hard to ignore the suspiciously sinking feeling in his stomach. He decides to go to the library to catch up with NEWTs required readings, when Blaise pops out of the blue to waylay him.

“Please, for the love of Merlin, don’t tell me you’re going to spend this beautiful day locked in the library!” Blaise exclaims, making a grab at Draco’s Charms book. His large smile turns into a scowl when Draco manages to duck and save his book at the last minute.

Draco glares at Blaise and edges away. “I need to study.”

“No. I need to study. Pansy needs to study. Almost every other poor blighter in this school needs to study at the moment but for you and Granger.” Blaise retorts, pinning Draco with a glare that’s remarkably similar to the look of disapproval his mother gives him. “Come on, just a few hours won’t hurt.”

As Draco lets Blaise drag him away from the library, he wonders if maybe he’s just forgotten how to say no to people.

Hogsmeade is cold, crowded and just the distraction Draco needed. He’s been finding it difficult to concentrate lately. He’s obviously too focused on this tutoring business. He spent the walk down from the castle with his head clouded with scenarios of him bumping into Harry and Finnigan. Every single situation ended with Finnegan out of the picture, sometimes by immoral means, and Harry and Draco together.

He reasons to himself, I’ve just been spending so much time with the speccy git that I’ve gotten used to him. I’m taking the tutoring too seriously. That’s all.

With that thought in mind, he decides to let himself have fun and surprises Blaise by pulling him towards Honeydukes. They spend the day walking around the village, nipping into the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer whenever the cold wind gets too bitting. On one of their visits there, they spot Ginny Weasley sharing a Butterbeer with Luna Lovegood and Draco has to all but pull Blaise out of there.

“-at least let me ask them if they’re open to sharing!” Blaise whines, trying to head back inside.

Draco firmly shakes his head and marches Blaise towards the other side of the village.

Feeling reckless and relaxed in a way that he hasn’t felt in ages, Draco waits till they’re on the path to the castle before lobbing a perfectly formed snowball at Blaise, who was distracted by the sight of Ginny and Luna walking ahead of them.

As Blaise stumbles and falls flat on his face, Draco loses it and starts laughing, almost falling down on his arse.

“Your face!” Draco manages to gasp through an uncontrollable fit of laughter. “Oh Merlin, your face!”

It’s only because of reflexes born from years of living in the Slytherin dorms that Draco catches sight of Blaise waving his wand before he rolls and throws up a shield charm. He barely manages to hold the shield as tiny little snowballs are hurled at him.

He smirks and effectively deflects Blaise’s attack before jumping to his feet and tackling Blaise. Some things are better done by hand, Draco thinks before grabbing a fistful of snow and stuffing it down Blaise’s jumper.

As Blaise curses, Draco falls back on his heels, perched comfortably on Blaise’s hips. He’s brushing snow off his gloves when he hears a familiar voice.

“Draco?”

Draco looks up to see Harry standing there, staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Draco, who’s gotten used to being attuned to Harry’s emotions, finds it disconcerting but his confusion vanishes when he catches sight of Finnigan standing next to Harry.

“What are you doing?” Harry asks, his tone containing a hint of something that sounds a lot like anger.

Draco tries to stand but Blaise’s hand on his leg stops him. He looks towards his friend in confusion only to find Blaise staring at Harry.

“We’re enjoying the snow, Potter. Any problems?” Blaise drawls, arching an eyebrow when Harry clenches his fists.

“None at all,” Harry bites out, glaring at Blaise. His eyes soften as he turns to face Draco as he asks, “We’re still on for tomorrow, right?”

Draco nods. “Of course.”

Finnigan nudges Harry with his elbow. “C’mon Harry, let’s go.”

Deliberately not looking at Blaise, Harry walks away with Finnigan.

The sole explanation Draco gets from Blaise is a smirk.

When they get back to the castle, tired from their day out, Draco still feels restless. He’s exhausted, but his mind feels overwhelmed by something he can’t pinpoint. His thoughts keep going back to Harry’s frowning face. The anticipation for their next tutoring lesson gnaws at his stomach.

 

 

***

Draco is already waiting in the Potions’ lab when Harry storms in, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” Draco states, arching an eyebrow when Harry dumps his textbook on the table and curses under his breath.

“Is Zabini your boyfriend?”

Draco stares at Harry. At the look of serious consideration on Harry’s face Draco can’t help but burst out laughing.

“Draco.”

Draco ignores the warning tone in Harry’s voice and continues laughing, holding onto the desk for support.

“Stop.”

He can feel a pain shoot up and his side and still Draco can’t help it. Merlin, of all the possible things in the world. His laughter dies in his throat when he feels strong hands grip his arms and pull him up. Harry holds onto his arms, ensuring that Draco is looking right into his eyes when he asks again.

“Is Blaise Zabini your boyfriend?”

Draco swallows and bites down the inexplicable urge to reach out and touch Harry’s face, just to see if the stubble feels as rough as it looks. He’s so wrapped up in his thoughts that he doesn’t realise immediately Harry’s talking to him again.

“What? Merlin, no! No, absolutely not!”

Draco struggles till Harry lets go and moves to put some distance between them. He can feel the blush staining his cheeks and he wishes Harry would stop looking at him like that so that he could make sense of his feelings. These green eyes are so captivating. It’s uncanny, really.

Harry smiles, looking a lot more calm and composed than he was a minute ago.

“Okay, yeah, umm, I just thought, you know, seeing the two of you that day and then with what Zabini said, I thought-”

Draco cuts off Harry’s stammering explanation, “What did Blaise say?”

“It’s not important anyway,” Harry says, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I made any assumptions.” He takes a seat at the desk and gestures for Draco to sit next to him. “Come on. This potion won’t brew itself.”

They work in deafening silence as Draco’s mind is overflowing with questions. Some questions that Blaise will have to answer.

 

 

***

Draco heads straight for Blaise as he strides across the Slytherin dungeons.

“Blaise Marcus Zabini.” Draco calls out, in an uncanny imitation of his mother.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy,” replies Blaise in the same tone without looking up from his magazine.

“What the hell did you say to Potter?”

Blaise gives an exaggerated sigh.

“Oh, I should have known this was coming…”

Draco snorts but Blaise cuts him off before he can begin a sentence.

“Just get over yourself and ask him out on a date, alright?”

Draco’s eyebrows shoot up underneath his fringe.

“Beg your pardon?”

“He obviously fancies you too. Merlin, how can you be so oblivious?” Blaise gives a heavy, dramatic sigh and lowers his gaze back to his book, unbothered.

“But what did you say to him? He thought we were boyfriends!”

Blaise chuckles.

“Of course he did. You were there, we were playing in the snow, he thought it was a date.” Blaise looks up again.

“I let him think it was so you’d know if he really likes you. You’re welcome.”

Blaise gives a wink and returns to his reading once more, leaving Draco speechless.

 

 

***

Draco stares, wideyed, at the cauldron full of Wideye potion.

“The consistency is just right.”

“I know.” Harry’s voice is smug but he still sounds surprised of his own achievement.

“You didn’t even melt your cauldron once.”

Harry nods proudly, beaming at Draco.

“I didn’t help you at all for this one.”

“Nope.” Harry is now nodding horizontally and vigorously.

Draco clears his throat. “Why Harry, I believe you’re ready to take your NEWTS now... Our work here is done. While you were an abysmal student most of the times,” Draco continues loudly over Harry’s protest, “you managed to pull through and here we are. I can call myself a proud tutor.”

Harry’s smile is so sincere that it hurts a little. As they pack their ustensils and books, it suddenly hits Draco that he has to get used to not having time alone with Harry regularly now.

 

 

***

The Quidditch match is all everyone can talk about.

Gryffindor versus Slytherin matches are always exciting and the fact that it’s the deciding match of the year guarantees that the entire school turns out to the Quidditch Pitch. Draco’s sitting next to an excited Blaise who's convinced Slytherin will be victorious this year. Draco knows better, he knows Harry too well now. There’s no way Gryffindor is going to loose.

He sees it happen in slow motion through his goggles - Harry’s rough dive and tumble as he flies after the Snitch. The few seconds while everyone waits with bated breath for Harry to sit up seem agonisingly long.

The entire crowd sighs in relief and cheers when he finally does. All Draco can think about are the scrapes that will surely bruise and sting. He immediately gets up and makes his way to the Potions dungeons.

Harry finds him there an hour later, hunched over his cauldron.

“You didn’t come to see the match?”

Draco jumps in surprise, he didn’t even notice he wasn’t alone. He looks up to see Harry standing next to him. He’s cleaned and changed out of his Quidditch uniform. Draco can see the edge of a nasty bruise peeking out from under the sleeve of his sweater where he’s rolled it up his arm.

“I was there,” Draco says, carefully ladling out some of the potion into a vial, “I just left as soon as you caught the snitch.”

Harry smiles, relieved. “I was worried you'd decided to skip it.”

Draco shakes his head and stoppers the blue vial. He can feel a blush staining his cheeks as he hands it to Harry. Draco leans back against the cold desk behind him, trying his best to appear nonchalant.

“I left early to make this. I knew those scrapes must be stinging, but you would refuse to see Madam Pomfrey. Use this twice a day for a week, so that you don’t scar. Merlin knows you don’t need any more."

He gives a forced laugh, embarrassed by his own thoughtfulness.

 

Harry stares at it for a moment, turning the vial over and over in his hand. Draco’s almost about to say something to break the awkward silence when Harry looks up and Draco’s words die in his throat at the look in his eyes.

Without a word, Harry walks forward. He carefully places the vial on the desk behind Draco, the delicate clinking sound echoing in the silence of the room. Draco can hear himself breathing, it’s too loud, too harsh in the surrounding silence. And then Harry’s kissing him.

It’s nothing like what Draco would have expected.

Harry kisses with everything he has, pushing Draco back till the desk is digging into his back and he’s arching into Harry’s hold. It’s easy to give in, and it would be so easy to forget about everything and let go… But the nagging thought of Finnigan in the back of head is enough to make him gasp and try to pull free.

Harry steps back as soon as Draco pulls away, giving him space. Draco can see Harry’s expression shift to anguish in a second.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… I thought…”

Draco can see Harry stepping back, putting distance between them and he reaches out to grab hold of Harry’s sweater and pull him closer.

“What about Finnigan?” Draco asks, holding on tightly to the fistful of wool in his grip.

Harry blinks. “What about him?”

“Aren't you two an item? Isn't kissing me when you have a boyfriend against the code of honour of a Gryffindor?” Draco hopes Harry didn’t notice his voice break at the first sentence and hopes his blurting out all of this doesn't make him sound desperate.

Harry _laughs_. The git has the audacity to laugh!

“We went on one date, Draco. That’s it. There’s nothing going on.”

Draco scowls. “Really? You seem very friendly.”

“That’s ‘cause we are friends. It doesn’t mean anything. We tried it, and we had no alchemy, and anyway I..."

Harry stops and bites his lips.

"You what?"

"Well, I fancy you and not him, don’t I?"

Draco takes a minute to process that. Harry kissed him. Harry isn’t dating Finnigan. Harry fancies him! Harry kissed _him._

This time it’s Draco who kisses Harry, running one hand through Harry’s hair while other is still holding on tightly to the sweater.

As Harry kisses back just as enthusiastically, Draco tightens his grip on the sweater.

He has no intentions of letting go now.

**Author's Note:**

> You can leave your comments here or on [LiveJournal](http://hd-collab.livejournal.com/6472.html). :)


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